Who knew that Albertans had the option to purchase private insurance to receive preferential access to diagnostic testing and treatment? The issue was recently raised to me and yesterday, the Calgary Herald ran an excellent article from Dr. Paul Parks titled, All Albertans deserve timely access to health care. An exceprt of the editorial is as follows:

Unfortunately, the recent debate surrounding the existence of private MRI clinics has once again allowed the focus to be diverted from the critical issue at the heart of the matter: that the medical queues in Alberta are routinely inordinate, untenable and unsafe… I would strongly argue that we should hold the government accountable to improve health care access for all Albertans. Albertans deserve equitable access to a robust public health-care system irrespective of one’s ability to pay.

I would encourage you to take the time to read the brief article; it’s long overdue for Albertans to be engaged in the debate on creeping privileged access on two-tiered health care.